India, South Africa cruise to under-19 semi-finals

Title contenders India and South Africa pounded their rivals in impressive style on Sunday to cruise to the semi-finals of cricket's under-19 World Cup here.

India, seeded second behind defending champions Pakistan, proved the lucrative Indian Premier League was no distraction as they thrashed England by seven wickets at the Kinrara Oval.

South Africa rode on a brilliant all-round performance by captain Wayne Parnell to crush Bangladesh by 201 runs in the second quarter-final at the Bayuemas Oval.

India await the winner of Monday's clash between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in the semi-final.

The other semi-final will pit South Africa against the winner of the fourth quarter-final between Pakistan and Australia.

India sent England in to bat and shot them out for 146 with left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah taking 3-29 and seamer Siddarth Kaul and left-arm slow bowler Ravindra Jadeja picking up two wickets each.

Opener James Taylor was the only batsman to defy the accurate Indian attack with 41.

Indian openers Sreevats Goswami and Taruwar Kohli saw off the new ball with a slow but steady start of 65 in 20 overs.

Essex off-spinner Tom Westley created a minor scare in the Indian camp by removing star batsmen Tanmay Srivastava and skipper Virat Kohli in successive overs.

Taruwar Kohli, who hails from Jalandhar in northern Punjab, guided India home with an unbeaten 63 and became the tournament's leading scorer with 207 runs in four matches.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday warned IPL team owners against poaching the junior players for the lucrative Twenty20 extravaganza till the World Cup was over.

The Indian team here has been beseiged with phone calls from IPL agents over the past week offering contracts reportedly ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 dollars.

IPL rules mandate that each of the eight city franchises should have a minimum of four under-21 players in their line-ups.

"The players have been told not to have contact with anyone connected with the IPL," team official Hitesh Patel told AFP.

"The BCCI is very strict about this. IPL team owners have been told to stay away from the team till the World Cup was over."

South Africa's quarter-final against Bangladesh was dominated by left-hander Parnell, who struck 57 off 60 balls and then grabbed six wickets for eight runs.

The Proteas, asked to take first strike, were reduced to 69-4 before Jonathan Vandiar (45) and Yaseen Vallie put on 66 for the fifth wicket.

Parnell smashed a quickfire half-century to boost the total before returning with the new ball to wreck the Bangladesh batting with his left-arm seam bowling.

Parnell, 18, who plays first-class cricket in Port Elizabeth and looks up to former South African opener and India's new coach Gary Kirsten, emerged the tournament's leading bowler with 14 wickets from four matches.

Abraham Pienaar chipped in with two wickets in one over as Bangladesh were shot out in the 12th over with Nasir Hossain (17) the only batsman to reach double figures.